72: Yards gained by Braxton Miller on one carry Saturday, the longest run from scrimmage this season by the Buckeyes.

186: Braxton Miller's rushing yards Saturday, a record for an OSU quarterback. He set the previous mark of 161 this season vs. Miami.

272: Wins in 273 games when the Buckeyes score 35 or more points. The other game was a tie.

371: Rushing yards vs. Nebraska, the first 300-yard day since gaining 346 vs. Indiana in 2011.

-Jon Spencer

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Memo to Baylor ... the Bears, not NBA legend Elgin: Yes, it's possible to score 63 points and not lose.

Ohio State's Showtime offense proved it Saturday night before an entertained and at times exorcised crowd of 106,102 in the Horseshoe.

A record throng probably witnessed a record for quickest turnaround by an offense - from inept (17 yards in the first quarter) to utterly unstoppable (28 points in the second quarter).

Urban Meyer detests the term "basketball on grass," but that's exactly what happened as his Buckeyes fastbreaked their way out of a 24-21 deficit, scoring on seven of their final nine offensive possessions while mixing in a 76-yard punt return TD by Philly Brown for good measure.

It was such a blur Meyer's head was still spinning 30 minutes after his Buckeyes ran off with everything but Bo Pelini's hoodie in the 63-38 victory over Nebraska.

"People are asking me ... I don't know what changed," said Meyer, who has spent the last 10 months tinkering under the hood of a race car that spent most of 2011 on blocks. "I'll have something more for you next week on exactly what happened."

Here's what happened: Meyer took what he called a first quarter "train wreck" and nearly blew up any chance the Buckeyes had of winning by blowing up the tracks in disgust.

In actuality, he was lighting a match under his team's lead behinds.

It was evil genius.

It took some large, uh ... Buckeyes for Meyer to call for a fake punt on fourth-and -seven from his own 25, already down 14-7, against a team that had just scored touchdowns on its last two possessions.

Punter Ben Buchanan was stopped a yard short. There was a review of the play, supposedly to see if Buchanan had actually converted before his knee touched. What the officials didn't tell us is they were actually checking on Meyer's sanity.

Had he lost his mind?

"Definitely not," Brown said, grinning. "He was basically telling us to step up. It was coach Meyer pulling all the strings. We had guys like Jack Mewhort and Marcus Hall and Zach Boren screaming 'We've got to go!' "

Mewhort, a gash over the bridge of his nose, was much more composed afterwards as he analyzed that tipping point.

"I think it was a little bit of a wakeup call," Mewhort said. "We needed to get stuff going because stuff wasn't happening. To resort to a fake punt isn't something we should have to do at here at Ohio State."

The Buckeyes held Nebraska to three points after the gamble backfired and then scored touchdowns on their next four possessions to take a 35-21 lead at halftime.

It hardly seemed like coincidence.

"Coach Meyer's not scared to take chances," said tight end Jeff Heuerman, who caught his first TD pass as a Buckeye during that explosive second quarter. "He saw that as a chance he should take. We knew we had to work even harder after that happened."

When the smoke cleared from that train derailment, the wreckage was gone, replaced by a monument constructed largely by Braxton Miller, the quarterback Meyer called "ridiculous."

It's hard now not to picture Miller at least getting invited to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Despite a so-so passing game, and those four straight three-and-outs to start the game, he rushed for an OSU quarterback record 186 yards and finished with 313 yards total offense.

We're becoming numb to his 300-yard efforts the way we did Joe Germaine's 300-yard passing games. Anymore, it becomes easier to expect and harder to appreciate.

Miller will never be so taken for granted, though, that he becomes an unsung hero. The offensive line has already locked up that honor on the Big Ten's last remaining unbeaten team.

"They're the ones that have really developed, I mean, like really developed," Meyer said of his front five. "I didn't feel us change the line of scrimmage against those early (opponents). I'm starting to feel us change the line of scrimmage. We know how fragile it is. Have a bloody nose tomorrow and it's not a very good offensive line.

"We don't have a lot of depth, but (line) coach (Ed) Warinner and those guys have something going now. They're changing the line of scrimmage against some very good defensive lines."

It was the midnight hour, and the revelry had moved to High Street - and, for those left behind at the 'Shoe, the post-game interview room.

A ceiling on this offense?

"I couldn't even tell you," Brown said. "Outer space. We've done so many crazy things. This could really be a magical season."

Incredibly, Saturday's win made Ohio State 272-0-1 when they score at least 35 points. Can you look at the rest of the schedule and say with conviction there's a defense that will hold the Buckeyes under 35?

Again, with conviction?

"We're trying to go 12-0; we're trying to win every single game," said cornerback Bradley Roby, whose pick-6 was the only thing that kept OSU in the game early. "We're trying to get that AP No. 1 (ranking) ... and win the national championship. That's our goal."

There hasn't been a split national champion since 2003 when LSU claimed the BCS title and USC finished first in the AP poll, which doesn't figure in the BCS formula.

It's hard to envision AP voters crowning an OSU team ineligible to play for a Big Ten title. Then again, did you see the Buckeyes sitting here unbeaten after the first quarter Saturday night?

They're definitely building toward something big, maybe a year earlier than forecast.

"Coach Meyer describes it as pushing a ball up the hill," Roby said. "You can't see much; it's cloudy. But you break through; you see the sun. Keep pushing, keep pushing. We saw the sun and kept pushing. Now we're going downhill and there's no stopping us."